Abnormal length of cilia as a possible cause of defective mucociliary clearance.

A 12-year-old girl with obstructive lung disease was examined with respect to the ultrastructure of her nasal mucociliate epithelium. She had the characteristics of the immotile-cilia syndrome: chronic rhinitis, sinusitis, and bronchitis, a severely decreased mucociliary clearance of the lungs, and nasal polyps. The nasal cilia showed a normal cross-sectional appearance but were found to have twice the normal length: 12 micron rather than 6 micron. We conclude that the patient represents a new subgroup of the immotile-cilia syndrome and that her cilia are unable to perform their normal tasks.